Holder for mops and other articles



Patented Aug. 31,1943 l 3 UNITED STATES PAT HOLDER FOR Mors ornsnnrt'rronns John w. Martin, Brooklyn, NQY. h h Application August 22, 1942, :Serial No. 455,969 3 Claims. (01. 15-150) .a device of the type mentioned wherein the mop may be I removed byreleasing the, lock of the device, ,without the need for in ones hand. v 1 v Heretofore many types of mop holders have been provided, which required that the mop be inserted into the holding deviceiby hand, and

similarly removed therefrom. A mop is often rather dirty, even after it has been rinsed out, and particularly is this so, where the rinsing is repeated in a pail of water,according to the usual custom. Applicant perceived that if he ICQlild provide a devicewhich 'could grip and release a mop without requiring that itbe touched by hand,

a long felt public need would be solved. To facilitate the operation, applicant went a stepfurther and provided a device capable'of gripping the mop sirfli-cien'tly tightly so thatno further manip- I ulation was required to ,assure a reliable secure-' ment of the mop.

It is therefore another object of the invention fitoprovide a mop holder or the like capable of receiving a mop by a scooping action of a jaw.

Another object is to provide improved means such that the scooped mop is grippedby pressing on the usual long handle to forcea jaw against the ground or floorand thus actuate, the locking .means in pro'portionfto the force with whichthe jaw is pressed on the ground. Another object of the invention is to afford a simple release for the lock whereby the jaws can separate to drop the. mop. v V l Stillanother object is to furnish amop holder whichshall grip a mop atofi'set lines to produce a bend at the gripped areaof the mcp for more securely holding the same. e y

,1 Since the improved locking device for themop holder comprises a ratchet-like clutch, it is often difflcult to obtain as accurate anadjustmentin locking tension as with, asimple screw, for, in-

stance. Accordingly. it is desirableto afford increased cushioning; engagement to enhance the range of .the. jaws in gripping a mono fI'his is grasping the rnop readily effected bymaking one of the jaws longer than the other to, produce the offset lines of gripping. v .Itis therefore another object of the invention toprovide a mop holder having a ratchetdike lock for jaws one of whichis substantially longer than the other for aqs'uperior engagement with themop. y r

; Anotherobje'ct is to so construct the mop holder thatthe movable jaw which actuates the locking clutch extends'laterally of the holder in open position so that such Jaw can be readily moved by downward pressure on the ground.

Another object is to so arrange the mop holder that the longer jawserves asthe scoop for the mop and as the actuator for the locking clutch.

. Still another, object of the invention is to furnlsh a holder" for mops'and the likewhich shall be simple and inexpensive to manufacture, dura-- ble,'reliable,""easy and convenient in use, which shall besmall and compact, free of any projecting parts which. might damage furniture, and

which isfcapable of being made substantially entirely of non metallic materials such aswood or plastic, V I Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent asthe specification proceeds. K Withthe aforesaid objects in view, the invention' consists in the novel combinations and arrangements of partslhereinafter described in their preferred embodiments, pointed out in the subjoined claims; and illustrated on the annexed drawing, wherein like parts are designed by the same reference characters throughout the several views. t

In the drawing Figuredfis a plan view of a holding device embodying theinvention with partof the handle with the handle removed, and positioned for n coopingainopon'a floor against which the movable jawis pressed to close and lock the device,

lanothersucceeding position of the pawl and movable jaw being shown in dot-dash lines with parts removed;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

The advantages of the invention. as here outlined are best realized whenall of its features and instrumentalities are combined in one and the same structure, but useful devices may be pro- .duced embodying lessthan the whole.

p 'It will be obvious to those skilled in the art to-which;this invention appertains, that the ame cle for such a purpose or use as may be desirable. The advantages of the invention are best exemplifiedin a mop holder, especially a it is believed to fill a long felt need in this art and V to possess numerous advantages therefor. Ac-

'cordingly the drawing shows the invention em bodied in a device for holding a mop, but it may also be used to hold a broom head, and it may,

with suitable. modification of the jaws, hold a tool, or grab a miscellaneous article which is to be carried from one point to another.

The device In may include a long handle l I, which may be straight or of other suitable form, and carries at its lower-end a means l2for, operatively mounting a plurality of jaws. For instance, the'means l2ma'yhave abore or. square chamber, t3 into which the. handle H" is press fitted. Of the V jaws, at least one is pivotally movable, and the other may be stationary. Thus the jaw 14 is integral with the supporting means may be mounted for angularmovment in any suitable manner on the support 12, for instance,

7 on a fulcrum 'I6'. "One of the jaws, preferably? [5,

issubstantiall'y longerthan the other, and it or both jaws mayhave opposed;end lips,.,ll, I8 1 which are thus. offset) from each other, to grip a mop at spaced lines. Thus the gripped-or compressed portion of the mop islcurvedgfl bycooperation with the main orrelatively plane portions of the jaws. Accordih'glythe mop. issubjected to combined compressive and twisting actions, so that a superior grip on the mop is obtained. This feature is of general advantage, and possesses specific utility herein; be

cause it increases the range of compression within which the device canreliably'grip the mop without requiring'the accurate jaw adjustment afforded by a clamping screw as heretofore used, and. hence is of aidto the feasibility of' the simple, highly compactand strong ratchet-like clutch hereinafter described. I

Operatively arranged with the movable jaw l is. a clutch device which may be frictional or positivev in character, at least in. one direction to prevent or resist separation of the jaws while permitting free or relatively freemovement of the jaw liltoward the companion jaw forficl'amping an article. nature of a ratchet-like device which maycomprise a ratchet-like member or rack. 19" and" a the'rewith locking or pawl-like member 20'. One of these members may be mounted on. either jaw andthe other onthe other jaws Preferably the toothed. member l9 is'fixedly' connected to the movable jaw and the pawl-like member 2!) is pivotally mounted on the stationary jaw, M

as at 2|. In a broader. sense,,oneof the members I9, 28 may. beregarded'as mounted on the stationary means l2. I

If the parts 12; |4, l'5 and" be made Qfflllas tic material the walls thereof-"may; lee-rather thick as shown. Tolimit the use-of metal even l2 and may be generallyparallelgorin alignment with the handle ll. The other jaw 15 Preferably the clutchis in the I for the fulcrums; the portion-l6 maybe-cast integralwith the-support I2, being carriedby the U side Walls or flanges 22 of the" support 1-2 and" the fixed jaw I4. ,In that case the movable jaw I5 may be formed with an open bearing which can be resiliently spread and snapped on the fulcrum It. The shank 23 of the fulcrum should be at such an angle as to be in direct compression when the pawl 20 pulls the jaws l4, l5 together. Moreover, the end of the jaw I5 may have some bearing engagement at 24 with the support i2 so that the component of force of the angular pawl 2!] may be directly assumed by the bearingsurfaces. The rack part [9 of the movable jaw may be of sufficient width to fill the space between the flanges 22 for ample parts; the fixed jaw 14 may have an opening 21 through which the pawl and spring'25 extend, and a recess Ziladapted to partially receive the finger piece 26; .The angle shaped spring 25 may be secured to the jaw l4 and arranged for sliding bearing pressure on the pawl. This spring may be of metal pinned or otherwise afixed to the jaw I4, or. of plastic cemented or autogenously united thereto. 7 A

An important feature of the structure is that "the pawl 20' terminates in a hook 29, and the teeth 3!) of the ratchetmember l's'fare at a like angle for a hooked engagement; The arrangement is further such thatwhen the movable jaw 55, acting as ascoop, is pushed under a portion of a mop or other article lying on a floor. 3l", the handle H may be pushed down, to exert pressure on the movable jaw to cause the'pawl hook 229 to ridev along theteeth *for successive looking engagement therewith to cause theidevice I!) to be clamped on the mop. "To release the latter it is suffi'cient'to merely press down on the finger piece 26; to swing the pawl 20 against'the force-of the. spring 25" for thus releasing the tooth 30 to permit separation of 'thejaws;

, Since the radius: of action of the. ratchet-like device"I 9,20 is rather limited, room for only 3 e14 teeth 38 may be obtained; Hence the offset relation of the jaw lips 11, I8 is ofadva'ntage because thus a greater range of'clampin'g'compres sion on the mop is afforded vfor securely holding the same. "l3y the arrangement described; the jaws I4, 15. afford therebetween a chamber for completely housing the pawl and ratchet device to avoid projecting parts which might damage furniture. Moreover, it is seen that thepawl Z d-should lie at an acute angle to the jaws for exerting a transverse component of tension, and therefore the axial points. at It and 2 l'must be spaced apart transversely of the device; The acute angle position also assists in preventing accidental prema ture closing movement'ofthe' jaw 15, because the spring 25 an'd ourvedteeth' zapermit the-pawl to act as a releasable" abutment. Torin'sure-a sur ficient number of teeth 30, for the-relativelysmall angular movement. of the jaw L5; the pawl .25) should-be rather short, andfthe' pivotal point it should be more remote from the free end of the jaws than the fulcrum at'2l'. r I To facilitatethe desired manner of" use of the device 10, it is preferable that the longer ofithe position'f' Thus it i is quite" convenient to use the movable jaw 'I 5 as a-sc'oop for. the "mop and to receive the downward; pressure wherebyitlie jaw I 5 serves as an actuator for the locking devic I9, 28. Thus the mop may be gripped and clamped without the need for soiling ones hands, and it may be released by operation of the finger piece 25 to permit the mop'to drop, out of the holder, so that the mop need not be directly handled. It will thus be seen that the device fulfills allthe objects of the invention and is well adapted for practicaluse. i I claim: f j j 1. A device including a holding means having a jaw fixed with respect to a rearwardly extending handle, a scoop-shaped jaw pivoted with respect to said-first jaw and handle, said jaws having their free ends extending iorwardly of said handle and said pivoted jaw being positionedopposite said first jaw, means located between the jaws wholly between the jaws wholly between the pivot and the free ends of the jaws, including a forwardly, downwardly sloping toothed rack on and extending lengthwise of the movable jaw, an elongated downwardly and forwardly sloping pawl pivoted at its rear end on the fixed jaw Whose pivot is spaced above andin advance of the pivot of the movable jaw, the major dimension of said pawl thus forming an acute angle with the lengthwise extent of the rack, the free end of the pawl and rack teeth being of hooked form, so that the pawl "acts in tension to prevent separation of the jaws,

- said pawl normally swinging about its pivot downbetween the pivot and the free ends of the jaws;

including a toothed rack on and extending lengthwise of the movable jaw, an elongated pawl pivotedatits rear end on thefixed jaw whose pivot is spaced above and in advance of the pivot of the movable jaw, the major dimensionof said pawl thus forming an acute angle with the lengthwise extent of the rack, the free end of the pawl and the rack teeth being of hooked form, so that the pawl acts in tension to prevent separation 01 the jaws, means for limiting to an open set position the opening movement of the pivotedjaw with respect to the fixed jaw and handle, and a spring for the pawl urging the latter in such direction that it engages and tends to retain the movable jaw in set open position.

2. A device including a holding means having a jaw fixed with respect to a rearwardly extend ing handle, a mop-scooping jaw pivoted with respect to said first jaw and handle, said pivot being downwardly spaced from the end portion of the fixed jaw that is connected to the handle, said jaws having their free ends extending forwardly of said handle and said pivoted jawbeing positioned opposite to said first jaw, meanslocated wardly toward the sloping rack for engagement with the teeth thereof.

3. A device including a holding means having a jaw fixed with respect to a rearwardly extending handle, a jaw pivoted with respect to said first jaw and handle, said jaws having their free ends extending forwardly of said handle and the pivoted jaw being positioned opposite to said first jaw, means located between the jaws wholly between the pivot and the free ends of the jaws, in-

cluding a toothed rack on and extending 1ength-,

wiseof the movable jaw, an elongated pawl pivoted at its rear end on the fixed jaw whose pivot is above and in advance of the pivot of the movable jaw, the free end of the pawl and the rack teeth being of hooked form, so that the pawl acts in tension to prevent separation of the jaws, the upright spacingbetweenthe pivotof the movable jaw and the pivot of the pawl being suflicient so that the major dimension of the pawl forms an acute angle with the lengthwise extent of the rack, with the acute angle rapidly diminishing as the movable jaw is swung toward the fixed jaw forficlosing on a mop, and with the pawl tooth being manually disengageable from a hooked tooth of the rack at said difierent angles, and

means for so manually disengaging the pawl by a swinging the same away from the rack.

JOHN, W. MARTIN. 

